Bird Expected to Appoint New Campaign Chief

California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird is expected to name a new campaign manager in a move to end the disarray that became evident during the first few months of her reelection drive. He is John Law, a Washington-based political consultant.

Law, 34, is a former executive director of the Democratic Party in Iowa. He gained a reputation as a skilled political organizer for his work on behalf of the 1984 presidential bid of Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.).

Law would replace Bill Zimmerman, a Santa Monica-based media consultant who has worked for Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) and for the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy.

In November, 1986, Bird and five other state Supreme Court justices face an election in which voters say “yes” or “no” on whether the justices should be retained in office.

Two campaign committees which are working to defeat Bird have raised nearly $1 million.

Law said Thursday that the main thrust of Bird’s campaign, which has raised nearly $450,000, will be to develop an aggressive counterattack against critics of the chief justice who accuse her and other justices of letting personal bias stand in the way of imposing the death penalty.

Los Angeles lawyer Anthony Murray, chairman of a committee to raise funds for Bird, said Wednesday he believes that the appointment of Law will end a period of confusion in which there was no apparent strategy and no one authorized to speak for the campaign.

Law said that Bird has asked him to manage her campaign, one that, he said, will seek support outside of California, as well as within the state.

“Her charge to me is to go out and organize a strong campaign that will begin to communicate a truthful message about the issues involved,” Law said.

Earlier in the week, Zimmerman said he was stepping aside as Bird’s interim campaign manager in order to assume a role “more traditional for us”--as a media consultant for the campaign. He was hired in March.

Law said that it has not been determined yet just what Zimmerman’s role would be.

“I don’t want to leave the impression that Bill Zimmerman isn’t going to be involved in the campaign, but I can’t say anything else on the subject right now,” Law said.